Eurosong finalists announced

The four songs will be aired on Friday 16 February on The Late Late Show by Dervish, who have been chosen to perform at this year's Eurovision, which takes place in Helsinki in May.

The final four songs are:
“They Can’t Stop The Spring” written by John Waters and Tommy Moran
“Walk With Me” written by Stigg Lindell
“The Thought Of You” written by Matti Kallio
“Until We Meet Again” written by Malachi Cush, Pam Sheyne, Martin Sutton and Don Mescall.
Kevin Linehan, Entertainment Commissioning Editor, RTÉ Television said, “We were delighted with the response to the Eurosong competition this year and would like to thank all the songwriters from both home and abroad who entered. The standard was particularly high this year and I think the four songs chosen by the judging panel would all make strong Eurovision entries. Of course it’s up to the public now to decide which song will represent Ireland in Helsinki in May.”

Two of the finalists are Scandinavian; Stigg Lindell is a Swedish musician who has previously written songs which have made it into the final rounds of the Norwegian and Estonian heats of the Eurovision Contest, while Matti Kallio is a Finnish musician who has been performing in traditional Irish bands in Helsinki for a number of years.
For more on the songwriters, read below.

Tommy Moran
Tommy Moran was born in Co Roscommon, and grew up there in Castlerea town. From an early age he played a number of instruments, including guitar, piano, accordion and tin whistle. He played for several years with a number of groups and showbands. He subsequently worked as an electronic engineer but continued to play and write music.
In 2000 and 2001 he won the Glinsk Song Contest with songs co-written with his father-in-law, J.J Flannelly. He was short listed for Eurovision on one previous occasion. He and his wife Jacinta and their four children live in Galway.

John Waters
John Waters was born in Co Roscommon, where he grew up in the town of Castlerea. As a teenager he began writing songs with his neighbour Tommy Moran. He subsequently became a journalist, author and playwright. His first book, Jiving at the Crossroads (1991), about the cultural underbelly of Irish politics, was a bestseller. His other publications include Race of Angels (1994) a study of the roots of U2's music in Irish history and culture. His most recent book is The Politburo Has Decided That You Are Unwell (2004). His award-winning plays include Long Black Coat (1994) and Easter Dues (1997). He currently writes a weekly column for The Irish Times. He and his daughter Roisin live in Dublin.

Stigg Lindell
Stig Lindell is a 39-year-old musician from Sweden. He has been performing since he was 13 and became a full time musician when he was 20. Since then he has toured in Europe, North America and even Africa, performing everything from gospel to hard rock. Last year his composition “Like A Wind” made it into the finals of the national heats in Norway and in 2004 he made it into the final of the national heats in Estonia with his composition “I’ll Give You a Mountain” performed by Charizma.

Matti Kallio
Matti Kallio (b. 1976) is a musician, composer and arranger from Helsinki, Finland. Matti has worked as a musician with the Finnish world music band Värttinä and with Finnish popular singers Hector, Vesa-Matti Loiri and Anna Eriksson. He has arranged music for acappella groups such as Rajaton and Club For Five, and composed music for the Reykjavik City Theatre in Iceland.
Matti who first became interested in traditional Irish music about 10 years ago, plays the accordion, the Irish box and the tin whistle. He has visited Ireland several times, attending Irish music festivals around the country. He found out about this year's Irish Eurosong contest on the internet, and felt that he needed to write a song for Dervish as he is big fan and has seen them perform live many times.

Malachi Cush
At the age of twenty six, singer/songwriter Malachi Cush from Co. Tyrone has already enjoyed his fair share of success both as a recording artist and composer.
Co writer Pam Shayne was Malachi’s song writing mentor on a BBC television music series in which they both participated. They teamed up again along with Don Mescall and Martin Sutton to write ‘Until We Meet Again’ which they hope will win the public vote for the song to represent Ireland this year in the Eurovision song contest.

Martin Sutton
Martin is a songwriter/producer based in Bucks, UK. I've had songs recorded by Olivia Newton John, Duncan James, Lulu amongst others and last year wrote and produced a duet for Leann Rimes and Brian McFadden called "Everybody's Someone" which made it into the top twenty in the Irish charts. He has also worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber, Celine Dion and currently writing with Gary Barlow.

Don Mescall
Don Mescall is already recognised as one of the leading lights in song writing in Ireland, the UK and the US. Many of his songs have shone as international hits for stars such as Ronan Keating & Kate Rusby, Lulu, Richie Havens and the multi-platinum American artist Neal McCoy.

Don was thrilled to finish second in last year's Eurosong finals with the song inspired by his young daughter, "All Over The World". It was subsequently released by Brian Kennedy and featured on his album "Homebird".

Pam Sheyne
New Zealand born, Pam Sheyne, has a string of songwriting hits to her name but is best known for co-writing Christina Aguilera’s “Genie” which was a number 1 hit in 25 countries. She has also performed as a backing singer for everyone from Elton John and Celine Dion. She was one of the judges in UTV’s Fame Academy in 2002 and it was here that she first starting working with Malachi Cush.